Is Bigger Really Better?

It started with our old TV.

We've had a TV in our room for a few months. It was an extra television from our time in California that we now use to watch movies on the built-in DVD player (We don't have cable upstairs). I don't really want a TV in the bedroom, but since our master bathroom is where we brush-n-bathe the kids, it's convenient to have one within earshot while I'm getting the other ready in the morning. It can be pretty cool to lie in bed watching a movie, too.

Now that Phoebe is taller, she can just reach the buttons on the TV sitting on our dresser. It juts out (since the back is enormous), so those buttons extending over the edge of the dresser are very tempting for her. I'm concerned that the thing will fall over onto her or Emma, so I recently suggested to Doug that we utilize some store credit at Video Only to get a small flat screen for that space.

Making a major purchase is difficult, but with one kid whining to leave and another taking every knee-high item off the shelves, we try to get in and out as soon as possible. But even couples without kids who find themselves going in to a store with a set item in mind may spend an extra 30 minutes negotiating in the aisles. We made it out of the store with a purchase we were both happy with (me: built-in DVD player, him: 19 inches with a wall mount) in just under an hour.

The TV was inoperable right out of the box. Turned it on and nothing. Doug returned it the following weekend while I was out for the day. I arrived home to find it not only mounted to the wall, but larger than the original at 27 inches. As impressed as I was to find my spouse so motivated, I wasn't happy that this model did not include a DVD player.

Doug reasoned that we watch a lot of Netflix Instant movies, so he figured trading size for DVD was a good call. He'd purchased a new cable and already had the laptop hooked up to the TV, which we could also use to play DVDs. My spouse had watched the kids, bought them new shoes for school, exchanged our TV, mounted it to the wall and gotten the necessary cables to make it work. I decided to give it a shot.

As the week went by, I found a few flaws in this arrangement: When our internet connection slowed, the movie did, too. Or stopped completely. When the laptop went to sleep, darkening the screen, the televsion went dark, too. Then one of us had to pop out of bed to tickle the touchpad. The picture on the television was often a mess of pixels because of the information transfer time from the laptop, through the cable, to the large screan display.

I tried to enjoy watching the TV, but I just couldn't. Doug felt awkward about exchanging another TV (plus paying a possible additional price for the DVD player), but we bit the bullet and did it. We had to get a different brand, but Doug got his size and I got my built-in DVD player. Doug hooked it up. We slid in a DVD. Grainy. The people looked sort of 3-D.

Neither of us could say it. We stepped back farther. We squinted. We played animated films, older DVDs, newer DVDs, Netflix Instant. Grainy. 3-D strange. Ironically, this was the first time we completely agreed that the TV had to go. The picture was fine, but we just could not reconcile how strange it looked to us. It was a picture preference, and we were lucky that we felt exactly the same about it.

Doug did not want to go back to Video Only. They'd been nice during each transaction, but their stock was limited and we felt we'd exhausted our efforts there. We considered returning it and keeping the credit until we wanted something else. Or getting something else entirely. Then Doug's parents called saying they needed help installing their cable converter box. Aha!

We gave the TV to Doug's parents. They don't care about the grainy-up-close-3-D-images. Doug installed it for them yesterday and they were thrilled. It felt great to do something for them.

But don't worry about us. We went to Costco-because if we hated any TV there, we could always return it for groceries. Or furniture. Or a playstructure. Or a car. But that wasn't necessary because we found a TV we both really like-with a built-in DVD player that can be wall mounted. All 32 inches of it.

Aren't all sounds musical?

The other night I stumbled upon these "T Screen Test Films," which are short interviews of celebrities by The New York Times' Lynn Hirshberg. They were so short and sweetly addictive that we soon zipped through much of Season 1.

One tidbit I enjoyed - which seemed to happen with the earlier interviews instead of the later ones - was where they asked the celebs, "What Are Your Five Favorite Non-Musical Sounds?" A concept similar to the questionnaire James Lipton 'borrowed' from Bernard Pivot after the Proust Questionnaire for Inside the Actors Studio, I love hearing how the celebs answer. (Doug and I actually completed our own actors studio questionnaire years ago. It'd be funny to go back and find those!) But I had to ask, "Aren't all sounds musical?"

That aside, I went ahead and answered for myself. Here's my list:

1. My children laughing.

2. Doug using a whisk in a pan. I'm usually very sleepy when I hear him, whisking up a frothy milk for coffee or batter for pancakes.

3. My mother's voice calling me from another room, usually with irritation. I haven't heard this since I was younger and I hated it. Now, I really miss it. Maybe it's because I may never hear her in quite that way again.

4. Rain.

5. The needle on a record, just before the music starts. Kkkhhhrrrrrrrrhhhh.

What are your 5 favorite non-musical sounds?

I've got the music in me

Hello, my name is Kale and I am a musical theater geek.

There, I said it.

I've loved musicals as long as I can remember. It's probably one of those nature + nurture things, since my mother's love of singing and musicals brought many a soundtrack into our home. My older brother has memories of my mother watching "Carousel" on TV and just bawling. I remember her taking me (very very underage) to see "All That Jazz" in the theater, covering my eyes or ears for most of it, but allowing me to watch the singing and dancing parts.

Doug is very patient with my obsession, taking me to see various musicals over the years. Last night he took me to see "Wicked" at the Paramount. I loved the book by Gregory Maguire. I was overwhelmed by the voices of the two lead actresses, and now I can't top watching clips of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth on youtube. Which led me to get out my "Rent" CD, singing along with those old favorites, and now I'm hunting down my "Xanadu" record to blast Olivia Newton-John and ELO until my voice is hoarse.

Family Bumber

Monday, the final day of Bumbershoot, was our Family Day at the festival. Kids in tow, we met up with another family (our longtime pals, Max and Ellen) for a more family-balanced approach to Bumbershoot.

We caught the Films for Families, which featured a couple of local filmmakers, then sprinted over to see Recess Monkey and check out the art featured in the Northwest Rooms. The Drawing Jam turned out to be a happy surprise--the large room featured art supplies, (clothed) artist models to draw or paint, a paper-clad wall where festival goers could make their mark, a clay-making area and a block printing area. We spent quite a bit of time there, enjoying the soft music played by live musicians while we drew or sketched. I really enjoyed watching Emma take some time to make pieces she was proud of. It felt good to have quality time with her amidst the clamor of the festival.

Max and Emma engaged in one the art exhibits where you were asked to go into one of the "pods" on display to clear your mind and think of a solitary thought. You were then supposed to tell your thought to the "silent scribe" (the artist), who wrote your thought on a shrinky dink plastic disc with a stamped design, shrunk it in a convection oven, and tied it on a ribbon so you could "take your thought with you." What an amazing way to interact with the art on display, talk with the artist and learn something about yourself. I was especially impressed that our eight-year-olds took on the task...and were thrilled with their results. Emma's thought was "Chances" and Max's was "Annakin."

The kids also got a kick out of an installation piece, which was a huge teeter-totter that went up and down, but also rotated 360 degrees while doing so. Their weight was so even that a few times they spun around slowly, completely even with one another. So so cool.

We braved the rain for most of the morning, but amazingly, for Black Eyed Peas, the sun came out and it was hot at Memorial Stadium. Their set was so upbeat and fun, though Emma decided this was the time to sit down and read "Grimm's Fairy Tales." At one point both of my girls were sitting down while Doug and I jumped around like crazy children.

We caught a couple of other acts, ate some and bought a poster from the Flatstock poster sale. By that time I was pretty exhausted from my three day of festival fun. My feet hurt, we were getting cranky and we were soaked. A new Kim Family tradition? Maybe. We have all year to plan for the next one.

Bumberlovin'

Doug and I went to Bumbershoot, a fantastic arts and music festival held every Labor Day weekend in Seattle. In the past, Doug had to cover the event when he worked for The Seattle Times. Finally, we could go as regular joes, but this time there was a catch: We had to take the kids.

My previous Bumbershoot experiences consisted of spending the days wandering around checking out the events, then touching base with Doug while he covered the weekend's lineup. If we saw an event together, he usually took notes then ran off to consult with a reporter halfway through it. I was so excited to spend time with him at the festival that I had some difficulty finding a positive space in my mind to take the kids with us. But all in all, the kids did well, Doug took a hit for me and watched the kids all day Sunday while I met friends at Bumbershoot and we did have some great family time together on the final day.

Saturday we started out with Katy Perry, which was a blast mainly because Phoebe really digs the song, "Hot and Cold." I loved watching her face as she heard the music, then realized we were watching someone perform the music versus just watching the video online. She and Em also loved chasing the large inflatable balls bouncing around the arena.
We caught Mayer Hawthorne, where we ran into our pals, Marc and Tina. We ate roasted corn on the cob, supplementing our salmon sandwiches I packed. We hit the Center House where there were fun crafts to do, musical instruments to try courtesy of Soundbridge and an awesome gymnastics area for the kids to jump out some energy. Emma hit the arcade for rides and games, which appeased her somewhat. Our final performance of the day was Eric Hutchinson, who was fun and upbeat. (if you're online, you should totally check out his acoustic version of "My Girl/Ignition.")

Sunday was a huge bonus day for me. I met up with Marc and Tina (sans familia) at Memorial Stadium for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O was on fire, dressed up in this wacky tassle/fringe/biker jacket ensemble. Tina and I ditched out a little early to catch S.E. Hinton, the author of "The Outsiders." She was frank and funny, with some revealing insights about the stars of the films based on her books. (On Nicholas Cage: "He is strange." On Mickey Rourke: "He was a pill. That's a nice way of saying he was an asshole.")
Other highlights from that day were the Flatstock poster sale area, making a book at the Seattle Center for Book Arts booth, hearing my favorite song from United States of Electronica, Michael Franti and Spearhead and Jason Mraz. We really did turn it out for Michael Franti, I have to say. It felt amazing to just jump around screaming while my bulky backpack bounced up and down. I loved every second of every song. Absolutely loved it.

The ride home was funny-for some reason we started singing, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. And we did it all. The barenarenahnarenahnare guitars, the piano riffs, the backup vocal sections, even the crazy screamin' Steve Perry vocals. Pretty embarrassing that between the five of us in the car, we could pull out the entire song. But pretty damn awesome, too!

It's rough for vegans

Doug and I decided to improve our diets by eliminating sugar and coffee. I'm trying not to have too much dairy. Turns out it's much harder than one would think. 

The coffee part is okay, since we're avid tea drinkers, but I do miss the smell and taste of coffee. I'm also having trouble finding a warm, nursing drink with a little body and a little sweetness that doesn't have much caffeine in it. Or milk. 

For the last couple of days I've been experimenting to find a warm get-up drink for the mornings with a sweetener other than sugar. De-caf coffee with light molasses is just bad. Black tea with molasses a bit more bearable. Coffee with chickory and molasses was horrible. Green tea tastes good and keeps me going, but I want it to be a little thicker somehow. Chai with rice milk was the best by far. Black tea with honey has been a longtime favorite of mine, but for every one cup of coffee with milk and sugar, I want three cups of black tea with honey. It makes me wonder if I should just hit the coffee with sugar and milk and be okay with it. Unfortunately, my body doesn't dig it on a regular basis, so maybe I'll have to alternate somewhat.

As for meals, we've been pretty good about greens/veggies or grains at every meal. Now that we're in the sweetest part of the season when summer fruits are just as plentiful as the fall offerings, we're enjoying fresh corn, peaches, chard, kale, beets, carrots and looking forward to the leeks popping up, squash and seemingly endless potatoes. Getting all these healthy yummies into the bellies of our little people is proving much harder, but at least we're trying to offer it all to them. 

The air is cooler, the rain coming faster. We're changing over into another season. School is beginning. I'm ready to start something new myself, but having trouble getting into gear. My bramble of creativity is still atangle inside, my go-go juice is to be determined and I'm trying to gather energy to unravel it all into a cohesive something.